CHAPTER 43

I entered the room with trepidation and locked the door. I rushed to my bed and hid my face on the pillow.

I had no idea it would be this painful.

Just seeing Pierre pleading with me not to leave hurt, how else when I said I didn’t want to because I love someone else? It was as though I was dying. I felt as if I was being tortured.

I did nothing but lie in bed and cry all day. I had no desire to move, I didn’t feel hungry either. So this was a broken heart felt like, huh?

“Aurie, please open the door.”

I didn’t move and remained very still. That was Seven’s voice; I was not sure what drew him here. Was it apparent that, if he had any knowledge regarding Julio Cardinal, the agents he recruited were too quick? I only informed him about the case yesterday.

The entire room fell silent as I assumed Seven had left, but I soon heard footsteps approaching my room once more. I was unaware of what occurred next; I simply glanced at the door and Seven’s entry without speaking.

Miranda stood behind him, holding the spare key; she was the one who opened the door for Seven.

“Did you skip lunch?” he inquired. I ignored him and continued to fix my gaze on the wall.

“You should eat, Aurie. You can’t go hungry.”

“We broke up.” My tears began to flow once more. I was not sure how I overcome the anguish I was feeling earlier while still speaking with Pierre; all I recalled was that it felt like my heart was stabbed several times.

“And it’s painful. It’s excruciatingly painful.” I brushed away the tears but couldn’t stop myself from sobbing. A part of the bed sink, which meant Seven was seated there.

“The first heartbreak is truly the most painful, Aurie. Your cries are entirely valid.” He softly wiped my moist face as he caressed my face.

This was the first time I’d seen Seven act so nice and gentlemanly. He was often gruff and despised physical affection, I think this was his lovely and tender side.

“He was pleading, Sev. He pleaded with me to stay.” I pressed my eyes shut as I recalled Pierre’s previous begging face.

I just wanted to go back and runaway with him. If I were truly healthy, I would never have abandoned him. Even if he attempted to push me away.

“Because he loves you. Of course, he wishes for you to remain with him forever. If someone truly loves you, all he wants is for you to live together till old age. The peaceful, joyful, and calm way of life.”

I didn’t respond. I would never experience anything he stated with Pierre. Perhaps Pierre would have that experience, but what about me? Maybe I would just look at him from the above.

Seven remained in the room and ate with me. What we talked about was only to alleviate the anguish I was feeling.

The hours ticked by till nightfall. I was reading when another knock came on the door. I was about to speak when the door opened; I assumed it was mom, as she frequently visited me at times like this, but I was mistaken; it was Seven again, carrying an envelope.

I regarded him with a grimace as he approached me.

“What are you doing here?” He remained silent and deposited the brown packet on my bed. Despite the fact that I had no idea what it contained, I opened it.

When I saw the name Julio Cardinal, I was immediately intrigued. The page seemed thick, as though it contained a great deal of information.

“Where did you get these? You get these so quickly?” I stowed the envelop and examined the papers one by one.

“At the police precinct. It was already in their possession before Julio Cardinal’s incarceration.”

Julio Cardinal.

Alias : “Julo”

Sex : Male Birthday : July 23, 1965

Born in : Manila, Philippines.

Crime : Involved in gambling and Arms trafficking/gunrunning. Accused for attempted murder and murder and found guilty.

Place of arrest : Maple Street, Walden Subdivision.

Date of Arrest : January 2, 2012

Number : 10697

Country : Philippines

Age : 56

Height : 6’0

Eye color : Brown Nationality : Spanish / Filipino Scars and Marks : -

Residence : Maple Street, Walden Subdivision

Hair Color : Black INFORMATION ABOUT JULIO CARDINAL’S CRIMINAL HISTORY – Julio Cardinal is the former CEO of CDL corp. He was involved in gambling, which resulted in his bankruptcy. Julio Cardinal became involved in the illicit sale of weapons throughout the city due to a shortage of funds. Hilaryo Gomez (the leader of Julio Cardinal) was convicted of gunrunning. Julio Cardinal, as Hilaryo Gomez’s right hand, avenged his leader by instructing his men to assassinate Atty. Aliana Elise Jenkins, the attorney who fought against Hilaryo Gomez. Julio Cardinal executed a shoot to kill order at the Villa Carte mall. Julio Cardinal attempted assassination of Atty. Aliana Jenkins, but he was unsuccessful. He accidentally shoot. Atty. Jenkin’s daughter, Aurora Elyse Jenkins together with his wife, Priscilla Cardinal who found dead on the spot.

Witnesses : Pierre Cardinal (Julio Cardinal’s only son) Aliana Elise Jenkins, Captain Arthur Jenkins (Atty. Jenkin’s spouse), Nelia Jenkins (Atty. Jenkin’s sister-in-law), and people at the mall.

I felt my heart sank when I saw Pierre’s name, despite the fact that I hadn’t completed reading it.

This couldn’t be true, right?

“Seven, this isn’t true, right?” I asked. He didn’t respond and took the paper from me. He went over each item one by one before opening a folder and returned it to me.

I was speechless when I saw Pierre’s image; he was quite young and appeared innocent. There was some information on him underneath, but I didn’t bother to read it. I was not in need of those; I already knew everything about him.

However, not this. Not that he was a witness to his father’s attempted murder.

‘My mother died because of me’

I covered my lips to prevent the loud cries from escaping. Was it really his birthday? The day his father shot me was also his birthday? He was there? Were we both in the same place?

“One of the police officers also informed me of one thing; he was one of the investigators, by the way.” I couldn’t answer him due to the anguish I was feeling, but he continued to speak.

“The reason Julio Cardinal failed to shoot your mother that day was because his son, Pierre Cardinal, pushed his father’s hand, which caused the gun to point at you, next to his mother, who was nearby. You received three shots because Julio Cardinal pushed his son and continued shooting you instead of helping his wife.”

I sat on the bed and hid my face behind a pillow. Today was very terrible; I was not sure what to think about first.

Why? Just why?

I had no resentment towards Pierre. I was simply upset by the fact that, of all people, why him? Surely, when he discovered what had happened, he would blame himself much more. He spent his entire life blaming himself for the death of his mother. What if he discovered that he was also one of the reasons why I was going to die so young?

“We ought to inform Pierre of this, Au—”

“No.”

I would not going to tell him. If I were to die, I wanted him to believe it was solely because of my disease. It was simply due to my body’s frailty. I didn’t want him to believe he was to blame for my situation.

“Why not? I’m sure he’ll find out later as well—” I drew the pillow away from my face and looked directly at Seven, who was now frowning as he looked at me.

“Are you crazy or what, Sev? He’ll definitely blame himself when he discovers all this! Do you believe he can handle it? He’s spent his entire life blaming himself for his mother’s death! If he knew this, he’ll probably kill himself! I don’t want that, Seven. Let him live in peace!”

Just thinking about Pierre committing suicide because of this made me want to fight myself to live.

“Of course, I know that! You don’t believe he’ll suspect your death, huh? You told me previously that he saw your gunshot scars! Pierre is a very intelligent man, Aurie. He already knows you became weaker because of those gunshot wounds. He’ll look into it further to avenge you. And what? He’ll know that he and his father are the reason you’re like that? He will regret it even more because he doesn’t know if you’re angry at him or not, are you blaming him or not! It’s better if he knows you don’t feel any resentment toward him!”

I was unable to respond since he made a valid point. Pierre was a wise man; he wouldn’t just believe it if told. He was constantly in need of proofs, those that could demonstrate that what they were saying was true. Even if they invented a disease and he believed it, he would continue to search for the man who shot me, which was his father. I knew he would think that the disease they invented did get worst because someone shot me.

We had no way out, regardless of our excuses.

“Still no. No one will speak, the two of us will pretend we are unaware, and nothing like this happened.” I heard Seven groaned but I ignored him. I placed the dispersed papers to the envelope one by one. I rose to my feet and placed it inside the cabinet.

Seven could do nothing but shake his head and left my room without a word.

He was probably pissed. I didn’t listen to him again.

#

“Are you done?” mom asked. She stood at the door, arms crossed, watching me gather my belongings.

“I’m almost finished; I still have something to add inside.”

We were going to leave later to visit the province, which mum claimed had an abundance of flowers and fruits. I supposed it was a tourist attraction? We would visit because it had been a few years, perhaps over ten. All I knew was that it was my father’s hometown, the province in which both he and auntie Nena grew up.

That was also the province where my mother buried him.

“Do you need help? I can help.” I raised my eyes and grinned, shaking my head. It was not hard for me; all I was doing was folding my clothes.

“Thank you, but no. I can do all of these.”

“Okay, then. I need to speak with our driver because we’re about to leave. If you need help, just call Miranda.” She went inside briefly to kiss my forehead before leaving my room. I was just about to close the luggage when I heard the door close. I brought only a few items of clothing thinking we wouldn’t be staying long.

I pushed the tiny luggage to the side and double-checked if I didn’t forget something. My new phone was already inside, as were the books I intended to read once we arrived.

When I finished tidying up, I rested and sat on the bed for a while. It had been days since Pierre and I ended our relationship, days since I discovered Pierre’s father was the one who shot me.

I wept for several nights till I was exhausted and the tears had dried up. Seven gave me a silent treatment, but his old treatment of me returned a few days later.

I attempted to kiss him on the cheek, that’s why.

While staring at the wall, the door abruptly opened. I assumed it was mommy, but I was mistaken; it was two of our guards; they would be carrying my things.

I exited the room first to avoid obstructing them. When I reached the first floor of the house, I instantly saw Seven reading on the sofa.

Geez, whenever he wasn’t doing something productive, he would devote his time to reading. That was why he lacked more friends and a girlfriend; his life was far too mundane.

I might understand if he was reading romance or self-helped books, but this book was so dense with difficult-to-pronounce words that I would scarcely consider it a dictionary.

“Let’s go, everyone! Your belongings have already been loaded into the car!” Mommy shouted from the outside. Seven and I walked out the door almost simultaneously; he would accompany us on our brief vacation.

He was, indeed, constantly present at all of our life events.

Seven sat in the shotgun seat, while mommy and I took a seat in the rear. The van was so spacious; mom and I could sleep lying down and it would be still quite comfortable.

The trip was lengthy; we only sat silently in the car for approximately four hours. The sun was still shining when we arrived. We left the house at three am, that’s why.

“Good morning, madame Aliana!” a young woman greeted us as our car’s door opened.

“Good morning, Jo,” mom responded as Seven assisted her to step out of the car. The second to go out was me, whom he didn’t even assist properly.

This man!

I rolled my eyes and straightened my dress. Numerous men came us, who I believed were gardeners, offering to assist the driver in lifting our luggage.

I had a look around the huge terrain. I could smell the countryside air, which was quite distinct from the city air.

“Have you eaten, ma’am? We made a lot of breakfast for you.” Mommy took my hand and walked alongside me. I could see the girl’s eyes widened in surprise as she locked her gaze on me. Perhaps she didn’t saw me a while ago since I stayed beside the van.

“Good morning,” she greeted, bowing. I smiled sparingly but remained silent. She kept her gaze fixed on me until she shifted her gaze behind me, most likely to look at Seven. I observed her reactions as she looked at the man behind me.

She looked so shy.

Oh, she was giving me Miranda vibes; she also seemed to like Seven.

Regrettably, Seven could care less about them. It was not impossible that he’d marry a dictionary.

When we got inside the large terrain, my eyes nearly popped out. There were two adjoining manors, and in the center of the two manors stood a massive gate. The two manors resembled castles, but were scaled down in comparison to what I see on television.

It was still quite large in comparison to other manors. Then there wwre two of them; when they were connected together, they resembled a castle.

“Where are we sleeping, mmy?” I murmured.

“The other one is for our business; it has fifty rooms with two beds for tourists who wish to stay; the other is for our family; that manor is not available to guests.”